Last night was the AGM of Belper Musical Theatre and once again it was lovely to see the mix of our acting and non-acting members, coming together to hear reports on last year and to plan for the year ahead. As is often the case for me, the most thought provoking part of the evening was with the Any Other Business right at the end of the meeting - thankfully it wasn't long so not too many had dropped off!
One of our longer lasting members, Pat, shared with us the fellowship of some of our other members who like to keep in touch with what is happening, but can't get along to the meetings. As one of the newer members, it brought it home to me again that BMT is very much a family, and one which cares for everyone who joins.
Since the other thing that was raised in AOB (by me) is that this BMT blog is open to all members for them to share their thoughts with a wider audience (not that wide it seems) then I thought that it could be rather nice to set up a section on here specifically to share our heritage. Some of you will already have noticed that we have a page which lists all the shows that have been performed by BMT. Why not have a look at it now, and if you have a story to share about one of them, then please get in touch with me and let's add it.
And if you are a member, or have been a member, and would like to share your memories of your time in the company, then again please do get in touch. I am sure that others would enjoy reading them and it would bring back to life their own recollections of the same time.
I hope that I hear from you soon.
Before I sign off from this instalment however, I would also like to say well done to our new life members.
Firstly Linda Furnival, who was made a life member at the Annual General Meeting, voted on by all of those members present and by standing ovation.
And then last night we welcomed three more highly deserving life members:
Jen Lewis, producer of Copacabana and a rather cracking singer, and Sarah Stone, showgirl extraordinaire and wonderful with bringing humour and colour to all her roles. Both Jen and Sarah have done so much for BMT, both in full view and behind the scenes to keep everything up and running.
And Terry Bailey, our musical director, who deserves our recognition for all of his hard work and effort in helping us become the rather fantastic choral group that we are.
In a year that sees the closure of the Derby Opera Company, after 125 years of providing pleasure to the people of Derby and surrounding areas, it's worth remembering that Amateur groups such as ours only work and survive because of the members who volunteer to help out and keep them running. Offering life membership is the way that we can recognise the ongoing hard work that some have put in and say a big public thank you.
Well done to our four newest life members.
(I just need to check and see if I have a page listing our life members now)
Thursday 31 May 2012
Tuesday 29 May 2012
A Bond Medley
Think suave, sophisticated and a good helping of drama and excitement and you've pretty much got your head around the Bond medley that we will be performing this Autumn.
As someone who was more or less brought up on James Bond and the annual new instalment, I am really thrilled that we are doing this set. From the moment that the Bond theme is picked up vocally this is a medley that lets you relive those classic moments.
It includes excerpts from smash hit numbers, such as Shirley Bassey's 'Goldfinger', Nancy Sinatra's 'You only Live Twice' and McCartney's 'Live and Let die!'. The Medley offers some of our soloists the chance to shine and share their talent, as well as pulling the whole company together in amazing choral crescendos.
For anyone who has been captivated by the sheer escapism of our 007 heritage, this is a piece that will draw you in, as different themes, used across the catalogue of films, appear and encourage you to smile.
These are kind of hard to describe in a blog. We start with 'Der, der, der, derrr, de der der' and move through 'Do doodle do, doodle do dooo, do doodle do, doodle do dooo" (this latter theme also used by Robbie Williams (hiss boo, what a let down for those of us who travelled to Copenhagen for the cancelled Take That concert - yes still bitter) in his Millennium song.
Maybe some of you will share your favourite Bond films and songs and then I can let you know whether we will be singing those in this fabulous medley.
As someone who was more or less brought up on James Bond and the annual new instalment, I am really thrilled that we are doing this set. From the moment that the Bond theme is picked up vocally this is a medley that lets you relive those classic moments.
It includes excerpts from smash hit numbers, such as Shirley Bassey's 'Goldfinger', Nancy Sinatra's 'You only Live Twice' and McCartney's 'Live and Let die!'. The Medley offers some of our soloists the chance to shine and share their talent, as well as pulling the whole company together in amazing choral crescendos.
For anyone who has been captivated by the sheer escapism of our 007 heritage, this is a piece that will draw you in, as different themes, used across the catalogue of films, appear and encourage you to smile.
These are kind of hard to describe in a blog. We start with 'Der, der, der, derrr, de der der' and move through 'Do doodle do, doodle do dooo, do doodle do, doodle do dooo" (this latter theme also used by Robbie Williams (hiss boo, what a let down for those of us who travelled to Copenhagen for the cancelled Take That concert - yes still bitter) in his Millennium song.
Maybe some of you will share your favourite Bond films and songs and then I can let you know whether we will be singing those in this fabulous medley.
Friday 25 May 2012
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